CHAPTER 15: CHAPTER 9: THE RUINED TEMPLE

The sky hadn’t yet brightened, and the shadow, as dark as paper ash, once again flew up from the wheat field, gathering into a twisted, slender human shape, stumbling towards Sang Que.

Sang Que’s heart tightened, and she hurriedly stood up to scan her surroundings.

To the left was Black Mountain Village, in front and to the right were wheat fields, and behind her was a grove of poplar trees, quiet and bone-chilling.

The paper ash shadow came closer, and Sang Que retreated all the way to the edge of the woods.

Though she had tamed the Ghost Child and become a Yin Walker, she had no idea how to command the Ghost Child to help her deal with other Evil Spirits.

Moreover, controlling such spirits came with a price; even Master Mingzhang was backlashed and needed some blood sacrifice.

She had killed Ming Zhang. If Master Mingzhang found out, she would be doomed. She couldn’t go to the village for now.

Sang Que quickly calmed down, recalling that the last entry in the Ming Zhang Notes was June 28th. She checked last night, and according to the lunar calendar, it corresponded to August 2nd in the modern solar calendar.

Ming Zhang went to the Liu Family to find Liu Caifeng on that day. She visited Qin Lu’s home that night. It was late at night then, and the moon’s position was roughly similar.

Thus, the times on both sides were consistent.

"Just hold on until dawn!"

Sang Que turned and ran into the woods. In summer, the sun rose around six o’clock. When she came from the modern world, it was about five forty-five, not far from daylight.

The Ming Zhang Notes mentioned that there were no Evil Spirits during clear daylight; if she held out until then, she could survive.

She wasn’t sure what the situation was at home right now. If the female ghost was still there, what about mom? If she disappeared like this, her mom would definitely be very worried.

She had to survive and get back as soon as possible!

The forest was empty, with tree shadows clawing and stretching, as if countless eerie presences were watching from the darkness.

Sang Que, hair disheveled, dressed in black pajamas, wearing slippers, and carrying nothing, felt very insecure.

Suddenly, a pair of legs dangled down from overhead. Sang Que stopped abruptly, almost hitting them, irresistibly wanting to look up.

No way!

Sang Que forcibly restrained her gaze; the coldness went straight to her head. This was the Suicide Rope; she couldn’t look directly upwards. She had learned this the first time she came.

Sang Que lowered her eyes and had just bypassed the hanging corpse in front, when one after another, more corpses dangled from the surrounding trees, swaying in the wind, enclosing her.

She didn’t need to look to imagine the bizarre and sinister smiles on those corpses’ faces.

A rustling sound came from overhead, and all the corpse’s toes slowly turned towards Sang Que. She suppressed her pounding heart, stared straight ahead, not daring to touch those corpses, carefully weaving through.

Suddenly, a flickering orange light came into her view. Sang Que saw a ruined courtyard deep within the forest, the firelight emanating from there.

In an enclosed room, as long as a lamp was lit, it could prevent Evil Spirits from invading.

Sang Que’s eyes brightened, and with the speed of a hundred-meter sprint, she ran straight for it.

The wooden gate of the courtyard was tilted and rotten, the outer wall collapsed, covered in vines, with a half-broken plaque in the grass, only the word "Temple" remained.

A cold wind brushed the back of her neck, and Sang Que felt an unusual movement behind her. She hurriedly ran into the broken temple.

Weaving through waist-high weeds in the courtyard, she headed toward the firelight. When she saw inside the house, a chill ran down her spine.

Masses of hair wrapped around the windowless, doorless ruined house, writhing back and forth, emanating a strong bloody smell, sealing the broken house behind them; the firelight leaked out from the gaps in the hair.

Sang Que stood frozen, holding her breath, afraid to make any unnecessary moves, lest she trigger the killing rule of this unknown Evil Spirit.

Just when Sang Que was at a loss about what to do next, a rooster’s crow echoed from the direction of Black Mountain Village, and the foggy sky quickly turned azure.

Dawn had arrived!

Amid the rising calls of roosters, the hair outside the broken house receded like the tide.

Sang Que saw half of the roof caved in, pressing down on a tilted statue inside; on the empty floor was a pile of fire, next to which sat a girl with a face covered in black ash and unruly hair.

As their eyes met, the girl’s clear pupils tightened, and she frantically fled from the side of the broken house.

"Wait!"

Sang Que didn’t manage to stop her, and didn’t dare to chase recklessly, only guessing in secret if this girl might be the little fool mentioned in the Ming Zhang Notes?

The villagers of Black Mountain Village each had their own homes; only that little fool always wandered outside.

She was indeed special, actually being protected by a pile of hair in the house overnight.

Ming Zhang said that the little fool and her mother were the Village Guardians. Sang Que had searched online and found a record from an unknown source.

[The Classic of Mountains and Seas records: Fools were once wise. To maintain peace in a region, they willingly lost a part of their soul, reincarnating as fools, to dispel monsters, quell specters, balance yin and yang, and stabilize the five elements. None can surpass them.]

In modern times, some rural areas claim that Village Guardians are those kind-hearted yet foolish and lunatic people who shield the village from calamities, losing parts of their souls and becoming fools as a result.

Sang Que slowly walked to the fire by the dilapidated house to sit and rest. Although it was not cold on a summer morning, the fire gave her a sense of security.

She needed to catch her breath, clarify her current situation, and think clearly about her next steps before taking action.

Without the immediate pressure of survival, Sang Que’s first thought was whether she wouldn’t have to submit her summer homework if she couldn’t go back this time.

The damn homework, just thinking about it gave her a pressing anxiety similar to being chased by ghosts!

Sang Que poked the fire with a stick, quickly recalling events before and after her two time travels, making some speculations.

She spread the palm of her right hand, and the mark of the Yansheng coin was nearly invisible.

In her first time travel, she encountered Evil Spirits at Qin Lu’s house and recited a spell. The Yansheng coin absorbed the Evil Spirits’ power and transported her to Black Mountain Village.

Later, she used the Yansheng coin’s spell against the Ghost Child. The Ghost Child was too powerful and was not destroyed by the Yansheng coin’s power. Instead, the child entered her body, turning her into a Yin Walker.

The Yansheng coin’s power was thus depleted, leaving only a faint mark on her right palm.

During her second time travel, the Ghost Child helped her fend off a female ghost in her house. The ghost’s power surged into her body, replenishing the Yansheng coin’s depletion.

At that moment, her survival instinct was strong; she only wished to remove the female ghost from her home to prevent it from harming her mother. So, after unlocking the garden gate, she stumbled into Black Mountain Village.

This travel once again drained the Yansheng coin’s power.

Sang Que estimated that if she didn’t replenish the Yansheng coin’s required power, it might truly disappear, and she would never be able to return.

However, the Yansheng coin needed the power of Evil Spirits. Ordinary weapons and methods couldn’t fight Evil Spirits. To kill them, she had to learn how to tame the Ghost Child. The Yansheng coin’s spell could no longer be used.

To learn to tame the Ghost Child, there were only two options.

Master Ming Zhang and the Evil Suppression Bureau.

Master Ming Zhang was closest, yet she feared she couldn’t hide the fact that she had caused Ming Zhang’s death. Although the Liu Family couple perished, someone might have seen her and Ming Zhang running outside that night.

The Evil Suppression Bureau was obviously a government department. It was relatively safe to inquire there, yet she didn’t even know where the Evil Suppression Bureau was located—within Wangshan City or Tangyuan County. Let alone finding these two places, she couldn’t even spend a night alone outside.

In the Ming Zhang Notes, Li Weiming went out to get medicine for his postpartum exhausted wife and didn’t return for a night, ending up as a handful of yellow soil at the doorstep, leaving endless trouble for his family.

When she initially read these occurrences in the Ming Zhang Notes, they seemed bizarre. Now, she personally experienced that hair-raising fear.

Because now, she might become the next Li Weiming.

Sang Que used the wooden stick to tap the ground, staring at the words ’Black Mountain Village’ and ’Evil Suppression Bureau’ with quick calculations of risks and benefits.

Finally, the stick pointed at Black Mountain Village.

Compared to the completely clueless Evil Suppression Bureau, through the Ming Zhang Notes, she understood Black Mountain Village better. Why go far when the answer is near? Besides, she didn’t have much time.

Staying here another day meant more danger for her mother. The Glutinous Rice Exorcism Method was ineffective against the house’s female ghost. It was fortunate the Ghost Child killed the female ghost earlier. If not...

The more Sang Que thought about it, the more anxious she became. But recklessness was her greatest fear; she had to calm down and strategize.

Woof! Woof!

The sudden sound of barking dogs came from outside. Sang Que quickly erased the words written on the ground and hid behind a nearby statue.

The statue, headless, weather-beaten, and rain-scored, bore traces of colorful paint. It was a female statue—what a fine temple, why had it been abandoned?

And strangely, she felt a sense of déjà vu about this temple. Had she seen it somewhere before? In a dream?

"You guys patrol over there, I’ll go inside and check."

"Captain, be careful. This ruined temple makes noises at night. It’s unsettling. Why don’t you take the dog?"

"You guys take it, stay away from the wheat fields, and watch out for the Wheat Evil."

Footsteps approached from afar. Sang Que held her breath. Could the person coming in be Kou Yushan, the captain of Black Mountain Village’s Guard Team?

In the Ming Zhang Notes, Kou Yushan was considered a good man.

Should she reveal herself and seek his help?